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Jeff Birkenstein is a professor in, and previously chair (2009-2016) of, the Department of English at Saint Martin's University in Lacey, Washington. Dr. Birkenstein is a Fulbright Scholar, having spent his time at Petrozavodsk State University, Russia, in 2013. He was faculty president for the 2015-2016 academic year. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky in 2003; he has a second MA in TESOL, also from Kentucky. His first MA was from California State University, Long Beach, where he was lucky enough to study under Charles E. May, the influential short story critic. After first attending Orange Coast (Community) College, he graduated from UCLA in 1993 as an English major. His major interests lie in American and world short stories; food; and, cultural criticism, especially post-9/11 narratives.

Jeff Birkenstein strives to break down the walls between the classroom and the world. To this end, he has traveled the world, having visited 44 countries and 49 states, often for teaching and research or while leading or co-leading student trips, including in Austria, China, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, San Marino, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, and Vatican City. He was a Fulbright scholar at Petrozavodsk State University (Russia) in 2013; an Upton Foundation Fellow, researching food in American history and literature in the Janice Bluestein Longstone Culinary Archive at the University of Michigan Libraries in 2014.